Great Bible Truths Podcast Episode 140
Lessons from their lives Talk 6: Gideon (Part 3) – Raising up an army
Welcome to talk 6 in our series Lessons from their lives. Today we’ve reached the final section of our talks on Gideon. So far we’ve seen how when God’s people were in defeat because they had disobeyed the Lord, when they turned back to him God raised up a leader. Last time we saw three things that were essential in preparing for victory:
- Destroying your idols
- The power of the Spirit
- Finding the will of God.
Today we’re in Judges 7. Our subject is Raising up an army and we’ll be considering the men and methods God uses in bringing his people into victory. To save time, rather than reading the whole chapter, here’s a quick summary:
God tells Gideon that he has too many people in his army. He doesn’t want Israel to boast that her own strength has saved her. He tells Gideon to send away everyone who is fearful and 22,000 leave, reducing the army to 10,000.
But God says it’s still too many! The men are to be taken down to the water and selected according to the way they drink – more of this later. As a result Gideon is left with just 300 men.
During the night God tells Gideon, if he’s afraid, to go down to the Midianite camp and listen to what they’re saying. Gideon arrives just as a man is telling his friend his dream in which a round loaf tumbled into the Midianite camp and overturned it. His friend interprets the dream as meaning that God has given Gideon victory over the Midianites.
This encourages Gideon and he prepares to attack. He divides his men into three companies of 100 men. Each man is given a trumpet and an empty jar with a torch inside. Following Gideon’s lead they go to the edge of the enemy’s camp and simultaneously smash the jars and shout, ‘A sword for the Lord and for Gideon’. The Midianites flee and the Israelites are victorious.
So, what can we learn from this story about the men and methods God uses in bringing his people into victory? It’s very clear that doing things God’s way is the only guarantee of success.
The Men God chooses
Those who are courageous
3 Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back
It’s not surprising that people were afraid. The enemy was very powerful:
12 The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.
But there’s a difference between being afraid and trembling with fear.
Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is acting despite your fear.
It’s clear from verse 10 that even Gideon was fearful
but the assurance of God’s presence is the antidote to fear
6:11 The Lord is with you mighty warrior.
How often does God remind us of what he has told us many times?
Cf. Hebrews 13:5-6
5 … be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
Fear can be incapacitating! But we don’t have to let it. The Lord is with us.
Now let’s look at vv 5-7.
5 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.”
6 Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.
7 The LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place.”
To be honest, the precise details are not quite clear here, but the NLT summarises as follows:
When Gideon took his warriors down to the water, the Lord told him,
“Divide the men into two groups. In one group put all those who cup water
in their hands and lap it up with their tongues like dogs.
In the other group put all those who kneel down and drink with their mouths in the stream.”
So the men are separated into two groups:
- those who cup water in their hands and lap it up with their tongues like dogs
- those who kneel down and drink with their mouths in the stream
Now this may have just been God’s way of reducing the army to the size he wanted, but it’s also possible that the way they drank revealed something about their character. One way of interpreting this is as follows:
GROUP A
Why did God choose these?
Have you ever noticed how a dog drinks? With its eyes always open for the enemy. This suggests to me that God uses
those who are disciplined.
GROUP B
Why did God reject these?
Drinking water is a legitimate exercise. Indeed, it’s essential! But it’s not something we should bow down to. There are many legitimate things in our lives, less essential than water, that can, if we’re not careful, become a barrier to our service for the Lord if we let them become the controlling motivation for our actions. This suggests to me that God uses
those who do not bow down to the legitimate. They are totally dedicated to the task.
So God uses those who are courageous and disciplined and totally dedicated.
The methods God uses
He wants us to rely totally on him
2 The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her
He continually encourages and guides us
9 During that night the LORD said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands.
10 If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah
11 and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.”
He even uses the enemy to bring about his purposes
13 Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. “I had a dream,” he was saying. “A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.”
14 His friend responded, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.“
He has a unique solution for every situation
16 Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.
He has a right moment for everything
17 “Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do.
18 When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon.'”
19 Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands.
20 The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!”
He expects us to know our place and to follow the leaders he has appointed
17 “Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do.
21 While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.
He works with us
22 When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the LORD caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled…
He guarantees us victory
25 They also captured two of the Midianite leaders (AV princes), Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan.
The princes were taken
Satan will be destroyed
Jesus has already won the victory!